Will delay in finalising Delhi strategy cost Congress dearly?

New Delhi: Despite a loss in Maharashtra, the next battle the Congress should get ready for is Delhi. However, the grand old party seems to be repeating the same mistake, delaying finalizing strategy for the forthcoming Assembly polls in the national capital.

The inability of the Congress leadership to make a decision on a possible alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital is apparently creating confusion amongst its ranks. AAP and Congress fought the recent 2024 Lok Sabha polls as partners against the National Democratic Alliance.

The repeated posturing by the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee on not having an alliance with AAP is likely to hurt the prospects of the grand old party as it struggles to open its account in the Delhi Assembly.    

It was felt that the Congress could see a form of resurgence in the national capital after it won the crucial President’s position in the recently held Delhi University Students’ Union polls. NSUI broke the seven-year dry spell by winning the President and Joint Secretary seat in the Delhi University election.

It must be remembered that essentially the voters of the two parties are the same, shifting between the two parties. And an alliance between the two, almost like-minded parties would be beneficial for both, as it would prevent their division.

However, the stubborn attitude being displayed could lead to a division in this vote bank, essentially coming to the aid of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is eagerly eyeing a return to power in the Delhi Assembly.

The BJP has been out of power from the Delhi Assembly since December 1998, when the then BJP Chief Minister Sushma Swaraj lost to the Congress, which installed Sheila Dikshit at the helm for three consecutive terms.  

The saffron unit wants to desperately make a comeback in the national capital and regain power in the prestigious Assembly which has been out of its grasp for almost 25 years.

It must be understood that over the past decades, the BJP’s voting percentage has remained somewhat intact in the city and it is trying to woo part of its opponent's vote base by breaking their sitting ministers and legislators. It is understood that BJP will be a major gainer if AAP and Congress are unable to unite ahead of crucial Delhi assembly polls.

The Congress is somewhat staring at a similar situation that it had encountered ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls. The grand old party’s top leadership had let the state polls slip from its hands by not seeking allies actively, essentially ensuring the division of such votes which ended up benefiting the BJP.  

The Hooda family has prevailed upon the Congress’ high command to not have an alliance with the AAP.  This is despite the fact that the two contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as allies in Haryana and Congress reaped major benefits from the alliance as it won five Lok Sabha seats from the state.

The Congress high command would do itself and the party a favour if it takes a quick decision on alliance with the AAP and clears the way for the local unit to prepare for the Assembly battle ahead. An alliance would mean gains for Congress in the form of some seats while staying outside is unlikely to benefit the grand old party.

The 70-member Delhi Assembly is scheduled to go to polls early next year.  AAP had secured 62 out of these seats in the 2020 Assembly elections.